[*] 306. A Relative generally agrees in gender and number with an appositive or predicate noun in its own clause, rather than with an antecedent of different gender or number (cf. § 296. a):—
- “mare etiam quem Neptūnum esse dīcēbās ” (N. D. 3.52) , the sea, too, which you said was Neptune. [Not quod .]
- “Thēbae ipsae, quod Boeōtiae caput est ” (Liv. 42.44) , even Thebes, which is the chief city of Bœotia. [Not quae .]
[*] Note.--This rule is occasionally violated: as, “—flūmen quod appellātur Tamesis” (B. G. 5.11) , a river which is called the Thames.
[*] a. A relative occasionally agrees with its antecedent in case (by attraction):—- sī aliquid agā eōrum quōrum cōnsuēstī; (Fam. 5.14), if you should do something of what you are used to do. [For eōrum quae .]
[*] Note.--Occasionally the antecedent is attracted into the case of the relative:— “ urbem quam statuō vestra est” (Aen. 1.573) , the city which I am founding is yours. Naucratem , “quem convenīre voluī, in nāvī nōn erat” (Pl. Am. 1009) , Naucrates, whom I wished to meet, was not on board the ship.
[*] b. A relative may agree in gender and number with an implied antecedent:—- “quārtum genus ... quī in vetere aere aliēnō vacillant ” (Cat. 2.21) , a fourth class, who are staggering under old debts.
- “ūnus ex eō numerō quī parātī erant ” (Iug. 35) , one of the number [of those] who were ready.
- coniūrāvēre paucī, dē quā [i.e. coniūrātiōne] dīcam (Sall. Cat. 18), a few have conspired, of which [conspiracy] I will speak.
[*] Note.--So regularly when the antecedent is implied in a possessive pronoun: as, nostra ācta, quōs “tyrannōs vocās” (Vat. 29) , the deeds of us, whom you call tyrants. [Here quōs agrees with the nostrum (genitive plural) implied in nostra .]